


The Girl Who Loved The Sea

by daydreamer11



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Genre: Aromantic Asexual Female Character, Asexual Character, Attempted trope subversion, Gen, Original Fairy Tale, Original Female Character - Freeform, Original Fiction, also mermaids, and mermen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 08:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1068561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamer11/pseuds/daydreamer11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Once upon a time," she started, and found that after those four words, like magic, the story came pouring out. She was almost afraid that if she could not get the words out fast enough, they would be lost forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Girl Who Loved The Sea

"The Girl Who Loved the Sea"

Long ago, in a small village along the seashore, there once lived a man, his wife, and their two children. The man was a simple fisherman, who went out in his little boat every day from dawn to dusk. When his first child, a boy, was old enough, he too went out in the little boat, every day, with his father. The fisherman's young daughter, a pretty child, secretly wished to be able to go out with her father and her brother, for she loved the sea very much and wished to see more of it than the small piece she could see from her window.

Every day, when the girl finished helping her mother in the house and the garden, she would beg her mother to allow her to collect seashells and driftwood along the seashore.

"I will make you a beautiful necklace out of seashells, if only you let me go. And driftwood makes the fire turn such lovely colors!" she would beg.

Her mother, from whom the girl inherited her love of the sea, would often go to the seashore with her daughter. Together, the two would walk along the seashore as the mother taught her daughter the stories that had been passed down for generations of women. As they would walk, they would find the most fantastic of seashells, and the largest pieces of driftwood. Some days, while walking along the beach, the girl and her mother would come across a wriggling fish washed up on the shore. The girl would stop for a moment, before picking up the struggling fish and placing it back into the water.

"Sometimes," the girl explained to her mother, the first time this occurred, "fish get lost and they wind up on land, where they aren't meant to be. So I just sent the poor thing back home. Her mother probably misses her.

"Farewell little fish," she called, "have a safe journey home!"

The girl discovered that she had a gift for storytelling one day, when her mother ran out of stories to tell.

"Mother, would you like to hear my story?" she asked uncertainly. Her mother nodded. The girl looked around for inspiration, and her eyes catching sight of a small crab walking along the sand.

"Once upon a time," she started, and found that after those four words, like magic, the story came pouring out. She was almost afraid that if she could not get the words out fast enough, they would be lost forever. When she was finished, she had a dazed expression, as though emerging from a dream.

"What a wonderful tale!" her mother cried, "you have a way with words, my dear. One day it will serve you well."

Some days, she would sneak down to the seashore and walk along the beach by herself, telling the passing gulls and crustaceans and sea-turtles the stories her mother taught her, adding in her own stories from time to time.

As the girl grew older, she became more and more beautiful. All the boys in the village, one after another, fell in love with her. The girl became distressed as she found that she could give them neither the love they felt for her nor her hand in marriage, and so she spurned them one by one. Her mother and father grew concerned for her future as they found her spending more and more time away from the village and on the beach's shore.

One season, the fisherman had a string of bad luck. It seemed as though there were no fish left in all the sea. He was so desperate for fish to sell that he would go out on the terrible, dark days where storm clouds threatened to turn the waters dangerous. One such day, the fisherman's son - now grown - refused to go out with his father.

"I have a wife and child now. I will not put myself in danger so recklessly. I beg you to stay home." the fisherman's son said.

The fisherman refused.

"There is nothing left for us to eat," he cried, "I will go out even if it kills me."

Just after the fisherman's boat passed out of sight, the first raindrops fell. Not long after, the winds began to howl. Lightning then began to flash, followed by the echoing BOOM of the thunder.

"Please let my husband come home safely tonight!" the fisherman's wife prayed.

"Please let father come home safely tonight!" the fisherman's daughter echoed. But it was to no avail. The storm did not break for three days, during which time the fisherman and his boat remained missing.

When the storm broke, the girl ran down to the seashore, searching the horizon for her father. She waited all day, hoping that her father would appear. By nightfall, the girl had collapsed on the beach, overcome with sadness. She cried bitter tears all night, which mingled with the sea's salty waters.

In the morning, the girl awoke on the beach to find that she was not alone. With her was an old crone, whose face was gnarled with age, and whose eyes held countless secrets untold.

"A maiden's tears are a valuable sacrifice, worth their weight in gold ten times over" the crone said, "a prayer such as yours will not go unanswered. Your father has been lost at sea, and he now resides in the palace of the Sea King, safe, for now, but dependent on the King's will. You alone can save him. The creatures of the sea will help you, for you have won their loyalty with your acts of kindness, which saved many of them as they lay helpless on the sands. For love of you, they will help you."

"How do I get to the palace of the Sea King?" the girl asked.

"It is a simple thing," the crone said, "your friends the fish will lead you once you ask for their help."

"But how will I make it to the Sea King's palace? I am a creature of the land. To try to swim in the seas with the fish would be certain death."the girl asked.

"The tears you shed fell into the sea and mingled with the salty water. Three of your tears touched three different oysters, and the salt from your tears irritated them so much that each oyster produced a pearl touched by magic. Each pearl allows you to breathe as though you were born to the sea for one full day." The crone pulled a string with three lovely pearls.

"Here, I have put them on a string for you to wear. At the end of each day, one pearl shall transform back into its original form. The Sea King's palace is a three-day journey from this shore. Go, and good luck, fair maiden." the crone said, handing the girl the string of pearls. The girl looked down at the beautiful necklace in wonder. When she looked up to thank the old woman, she was gone. Taking a deep breath, the girl tied the string around her neck. Taking off her shoes and her apron, the girl stepped into the cold waters, walking until she was completely submerged. Once her feet could not touch the bottom of the sea, she began to swim.

"Oh, the seas are so vast! However shall I find the Sea King's palace!" the girl cried as she realized she could not see the shore, only endless water. She ducked her head under the waves, and began to swim farther and farther down.

The girl swam for a while, hopelessly lost, before she came across a school of blue fish.

"Excuse me," the girl said, "do you know the way to the Sea King's palace?"

The school of blue fish stopped and looked her over.

"I know you!" one fish cried, "you are the girl who helped me back into the water when I was stuck upon the sands!"

"That was her?" the other blue fish asked.

"Yes, I'd know her anywhere." the fish replied.

"Why do you need to go to the Sea King's palace, girl from the land?" an old fish asked.

The girl quickly told them her tale.

"We know of someone who can help you. He is an old fish, and very wise. He can lead you to the Sea King's palace." the fish told the girl.

The fish pointed the girl in the direction of an old fish whose face was hidden behind some seaweed.  
"Excuse me, Mr. fish? Could you help me? I need to get to the Sea King's palace," the girl said. As the fish turned around, the girl started.

"My, what a dreadful looking hook!" the girl cried. "If you'll stay still, I can take the hook right out."

"You are very kind. I know the way to the King's palace, and I will take you as far as I can" the fish promised, "for I am weak and old and cannot swim very far."

And so it was that the fish traveled with the girl for a full day and night, until they reached a cloud of jellyfish so large that all the girl could see was a wall of the creatures.

"I am sorry, but this is as far as I can go. You must swim through the cloud of jellyfish, and beyond that it should be another day's journey to the Sea King's palace. Good-bye and good luck, my friend!" the fish told the girl as he swam off.

The girl looked down at her necklace. She only had two pearls left. Taking a deep breath, she swam over to the cloud of jellyfish.

"Excuse me!" she cried, "Can you please let me through? I must go to the Sea King's palace!"

None of the jellyfish responded. The girl did not dare to touch the jellyfish, for she knew that their stingers were deadly. On the sea floor, however, there was a starfish and a crab by a patch of seaweed.  
"Excuse me," said the girl, "do you know how to get past the jellyfish?"

"Why, you are that girl who tells marvelous stories!" the crab cried.

"I believe she is, my friend." said the starfish.

"I have walked along that shore many times to hear you tell a tale," said the crab, "for you, storyteller, I will help. You see that patch of seaweed over there? Pick it and weave it into a cloak that will cover every part of your body. It is a special kind of seaweed. It will protect you from the sting of the jellyfish."

"Thank you, starfish, crab." said the girl, as she started to pull out the seaweed, and quickly fashioned it into a hooded cloak that covered her entire body and face, with two tiny holes for her eyes.

She found she was then able to swim through the field of jellyfish, their deadly sting now no more harmful than a gentle tap. Once she reached the other side of the field, she pulled back her hood.

"It is growing late. I must find a place to rest." the girl said.

She soon found a nice cave in which to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she felt her second pearl dissolve as a little cloud of tear-drop-shaped bubbles floated up toward her face. Touching the one remaining pearl, she was reminded of her limited time and quickly made her way toward the Sea King's palace, which she could see in the distance.

Just as she reached the palace's gates, she came across the great octopus who stood as the castle's guard.  
"Who goes there?" said the octopus.

"I have come to see the Sea King" the girl said.

"I have orders that none shall enter." said the octopus.

"Please, Sir Octopus! I need to see the Sea King!" the girl cried. The story of her journey tumbled out her mouth and she plead to be allowed to see the King. Her pleas softened the octopus's heart and he thought for a moment.

"That is quite a tale," he said, "wait right here. I shall go and ask the King if he will grant you an audience."

The girl waited as the octopus went inside the palace. Soon, octopus came back and opened the gates.

"His Majesty will see you now." the octopus said solemnly.

The girl made her way through the gates and to the King's throne room. Covered in her seaweed cloak, she made a curious picture as she curtseyed before the Sea King.

As for the Sea King, he was an impressive sight indeed. The top half of his body was like that of a man's, but halfway down the torso, scales appeared, until the bottom half of his body became a long, powerful tail. His hands were webbed and his arms had fins. His skin and scales were as green as the seaweed the girl fashioned her cloak out of, and his hair was a darker shade of green. Upon his head, he wore a crown of golden yellow coral. It was his eyes, however, that captivated her. A piercing blue, they seemed to be as ever-changing as the sea itself, and filled with an immense loneliness. The girl found herself unable to look away from him, as her mouth began to open and the words began to pour.  
As the Sea King listened, the girl told him her tale. She told him of loving the sea above everything except her family, and of visiting the seashore with her mother. She told him of returning fish to the sea and of telling stories to the sea-turtles and gulls and crustaceans. She told him of her father, the fisherman, and the storm. She told him of the tears she shed and of the old woman's help. She told him of her journey from the shore to his palace. When she finished, the Sea King looked at her for a while.

"You have come a long way," said the Sea King. He turned and gestured toward the door, where another octopus waited. At the King's gesture, the octopus opens the door, revealing the girl's father.

"For her tale alone, your daughter has earned your freedom, fisherman." the King says, "I give my word that you will be returned to the shore by sunset."

"No matter what happens, my daughter, be happy. That is all I have ever wished for you." he whispers as he embraces her.

"Please, send me back now. I am anxious to see my wife." the fisherman asks. The Sea King nods and gives the fisherman a seashell. As soon as the fisherman touches the shell, he disappears.

The Sea King turns to the girl. His eyes on hers, he begins to speak.

"If you so wish, I will also return you to your home," he says, "but you may stay here, if you wish."

"I must return to land," the girl replies, puzzled, "I am a creature of the land. To live in the sea is an impossible a dream for me. I might as well wish to grow wings and fly!"

"There is one way that you may stay in the sea, if you so desire." the Sea King says. The girl's eyes widen. "The story of your journey is unlike anything I have heard. You have such a pure heart, and such a strong love of the sea and all its creatures. For that alone, I would grant you the ability to live in the sea. But you would have to forsake your life on land."

The girl thought for a moment, again captured by the loneliness in the Sea King's eyes. How often had she felt such a deep loneliness? How often had she wished for a friend and companion who understood such feelings?

"If I could stay here with you, it would not be so bad." the girl finally replies.

"It is cold down here, sometimes. And lonely. It is so lonely." the King says, "are you sure you would not rather stay in the sun that shines so brightly? Are you sure you want to live in the sea forever? Would you give up your life above? Once you choose, there is no going back."

"The sun's rays shine too brightly up above, and too often storm clouds block even the sun's light. Down here, it is so beautiful. And I am as lonely above as you are below." the girl says, maintaining eye contact with the King, "All my life, I've longed for the sea. It is so vast, so wild, and so wonderful and free. In my life up above... I am not happy. The only hardship would be to leave my family, but I'd be a fool to say anything other than this: I wish with all my heart to stay down here forever. That is my decision. If my wish is in your power to grant, I beg of you. Please. Let me stay."

The King approaches the girl, takes her hand, and says a single word that sends ripples through the water toward the girl. As the King steps back and watches, the girl transforms into a beautiful mermaid with skin and scales as blue as the sea on a sunny day, and eyes greener than the seaweed of her cloak. As the girl takes her first breath as a mermaid, the last pearl dissolves into tears.

The new mermaid turns to the Sea King.

She leans toward him, and squeezes his hands.

"Thank you." she says, smiling widely.

"Tell me a story?" the King asks as he leads the new mermaid out of the throne room.

"Once upon a time..." the mermaid begins.

 

Her story never ends.


End file.
